Lawmakers squabble over prison crowding, sending 2,000 inmates out of state

TOWN TALKIs sending state prisoners to Virginia the solution for overcrowded prisons?HARTFORD  Plans to send another 2,000 Connecticut inmates out of state became one more contentious issue to resolve during the final days of the budget process.

Associated Press

Published
12:00 am EDT, Thursday, August 14, 2003

That plan is in the budget approved by the General Assembly last month. But legislative leaders were at odds Wednesday over another plan to change some criminal laws to free up beds in crowded state prisons.

Some lawmakers say removing minor parole and probation violators from the system would be a fiscally prudent alternative to sending inmates to another state.

Republicans said they were willing to add more money to alternative incarceration programs, such as drug treatment and halfway houses. However, they said no one agreed to changing criminal statutes during the budget negotiations.

The squabble over prisons is one of several hot-button issues legislators are trying to resolve as they finish bills that spell out the details of the two-year, $27.5 billion budget lawmakers approved July 31.

They are under the gun to complete the so-called implementation bills before midnight Saturday. That is the deadline for Republican Gov. John G. Rowland to sign or veto the actual budget bill.

Rowland has said that he wants to see the details of the budget before making a decision. If he doesnt act, the bill would automatically become law.

Leaders continued to discuss prisons, changes to the State Administered General Assistance health care program for poor adults, state tourism promotion and the fate of regional tourism districts, and a proposal create a new pool of money using higher motor vehicle fees to pay for projects to relieve traffic problems.

It was unclear whether some or none of those issues would be settled Wednesday. Speaker of the House Moira Lyons, D-Stamford, said she remained hopeful the leaders would finish their work in time.

"I think things presented are manageable and reasonable," she said.

Rep. William Dyson, D-New Haven, co-chairman of the legislatures Appropriations Committee, is pushing legislators to include changes to the criminal statutes in the budget bills.

For example, he doesnt believe people who commit technical parole and probation violations should receive jail time. Also, Dyson said, judges need more discretion when sentencing criminals, including the ability to send certain people to drug treatment programs instead of jail.

Dyson said he met privately with Rowland about the issue but has met opposition from the Republicans and the governors budget director.

"For me, I thought I had some understanding with the governors office," said Dyson, adding that he will not support sending an additional 2,000 inmates to out-of-state prisons. About 500 Connecticut inmates are now serving time in Virginia.

Sen. William Aniskovich, R-Branford, said the budget includes the provision to ship out more inmates. He questioned why lawmakers would now consider changing criminal laws.

"Softening criminal penalties is not what anybody signed up for," Aniskovich said.